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Food V Sex?

We’ve always sort of assumed that men would choose to fornicate ahead of a delicious meal, but now science has confirmed it. Their brains, as per The Telegraph are indeed hardwired to ignore food and seek out a sexual partner.

To arrive at this conclusion, the scientists involved focused their attention on the neurones linked with hunger and sexual desire of two genders of a certain type of worm – a microscopic roundworm called C. elegans – both males and hermaphrodites. (Because apparently these worms will give us an accurate reflection of the human male.)

While it’s far more entertaining to imagine that the theorists placed a scantily clad woman and a burger at opposite ends of a room, while the men, unaware of what they were being tested on, were told move toward that which they desired most, that’s not how it happened. In a very simple experiment, they placed the worms in a petri dish, gave them some food and the opportunity to either eat or go on the pull. The normal males ignored the food and went in search of a mate. The hermaphrodites did nothing but hover near the food while another selection of worms who were genetically modified to be ‘hungrier’ were apparently ten times less successful than the worms with no alteration at finding a mate.

Commenting on the research, Assistant Professor Douglas Portman of the Department of Biomedical Genetics and Center for Neural Development and Disease said: “While we know that human behaviour is influenced by numerous factors, including cultural and social norms, these findings point to basic biological mechanisms that may not only help explain some differences in behaviour between males and females, but why different sexes may be more susceptible to certain neurological disorders.”

“These findings show that by tuning the properties of a single cell, we can change behaviour.

“This adds to a growing body of evidence that sex-specific regulation of gene expression may play an important role in neural plasticity and, consequently, influence differences in behaviours – and in disease susceptibility – between thesexes” explained Professor Portman.

Interesting indeed and a pretty accurate reflection of our sexual experience, no? If you still have your doubts and want to test this theory further, try placing a roast dinner beside your bed as you don your prettiest intimates. Report back with your findings.